Dark Thoughts

Thanks for the fast reply! I was just coming back to post that I found that you can drag n' drop one PDN project into another.

Is it possible to merge two PDN projects so that if one project has (for example) 8 layers and the other has 20 layers, the new project would show all 28 layers?

Thanks for the follow up Rick. Having it vertically centered amidst a large field of white doesn't sound like a viable solution either. With the modifications you are working on for 3.5, what are the chances of that happening with other font styles as well? Having one or possibly two may not be that bad, but if it creates numerous such instances, it could be more headache than it is worth. If that happened, it would probably mean deleting the troublesome fonts from my system.

Not exactly what I wanted to hear but I appreciate the help and at least it is a minor issue at best. Thanks!

Assuming that you're right... How do I correct the problem?

I've downloaded a Star Trek Font that appears as it should in my MS Word list but in the PDN list, it is a blank space. I assume that for whatever reason, the text is in white instead of the normal black because I can still select it and use it in PDN as I would any other font. Is there a way to change the font title colors in the PDN Pulldown so it doesn't appear as a blank space?

Thanks for the clarification Rick.

Thanks for the clarification Rick.

Why did you think it will? Because each image has its own Alpha channel (The transparent layer). When the images are expanded, there are 5 transparent layers, but when they are flattened, there is only one. At least that's how I'm thinking it works. Assuming that I am right, 1 Alpha layer shouldn't require as much space as 5 Alpha layers. Or does flattening the images still leave an Alpha layer in between each image? If so, that would explain why the file size didn't decrease. I posted the question because I am hoping to get a better understanding of how Alpha layers work and I thought somebody here might have an answer.

Why did you think it will? Because each image has its own Alpha channel (The transparent layer). When the images are expanded, there are 5 transparent layers, but when they are flattened, there is only one. At least that's how I'm thinking it works. Assuming that I am right, 1 Alpha layer shouldn't require as much space as 5 Alpha layers. Or does flattening the images still leave an Alpha layer in between each image? If so, that would explain why the file size didn't decrease. I posted the question because I am hoping to get a better understanding of how Alpha layers work and I thought somebody here might have an answer.

I was just playing around and inserted 5 .png images with transparent backgrounds onto an 800 x 600 canvas in PDN. Each image was roughly 200 Kb and when I flattened them, the file was nearly 1000 Kb. Can somebody please explain why the file size didn't decrease when I flattened the image?

I was just playing around and inserted 5 .png images with transparent backgrounds onto an 800 x 600 canvas in PDN. Each image was roughly 200 Kb and when I flattened them, the file was nearly 1000 Kb. Can somebody please explain why the file size didn't decrease when I flattened the image?

I followed each step making sure that I did what was listed above using all of the appropriate plugins. I get to this stage and everything looks fine... Then I select Effects > Render > Fire... and leave it at the default settings and get this..

I'm missing something here... I'm good until I render fire. When I do, it appears as the usual curtain of flame instead of twisting around the highlights. How do I correct it?

I've now tried all of the above suggestions. I found that TubeOblique combined with Quad/Reshape worked best. I think I put some PowerStretch in the mix as well. Thanks for the help.